When a client says "tone", they mean they want to lean up and increase muscular definition... When clients use that word, i will also use it with them just to be on same page as them and for them to know i understand what they want.

"Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive." -Howard Thurman

Sorry, should've been more specific. I understand if someone wants to be "toned" but if they say they don't want to lift heavy weights / low reps / not diet to get lean because they would just rather "tone" their muscles.

athleticclubeast.com.au - Elite coaching is about getting the last 5% out of a person's performance, personal training is about getting the first 50%.
Current trainees' best lifts: ♀ 130/72.5/160 at 68kg, ♂ 205/120/220 at 105kg

I tell them about lifting heavy.
They don't listen and go do their own thing.
They come back 1-2 months later complaining nothing is working.
Tell them to lift heavy again.
They listen and actually lift heavy all the while still complaining about not wanting to get too big.
See results and shut up.

Before I answer your question, I'm going to tell a little story. Back when I was a teenager, I wanted to have toned muscles. As quickly as I became aware of the word "tone" being used in relation to muscles, I also became aware of the physiological concept that you can't "tone" your muscles, you can only make them bigger, smaller, stronger, weaker, etc. And as I was informed of this, I wanted to raise a huge objection. The objection had nothing to do with me doubting the source of the information, or the information itself. See, I was okay with the concept of building muscles and altering fat around them to create a certain aesthetic. But that's not properly grasping the purpose in which the word "tone" is being used here. "Tone" is a word with way too many meanings, but a whole lot of those meanings are experiencial. To be "toned" is something you can touch and feel as well as see. It's texture and shape. When people say they want "tone," they're saying that they want to look and physically feel a certain way...and this is a correct usage of the word tone. The problem in the language here is that they're talking about their muscles on an experiencial level, and when we say "you can't tone your muscles," we're talking on a biological level. We're using the same words but speaking a seperate language. We're correcting something which, frankly, I'm not sure warrants correcting.

In saying that, we should certainly be informing people on what they need to do to create that experiencially toned physique. They need muscle mass and an appropriate amount of body fat, and they need to apply sound (or sound enough) training and nutritional principles to make that happen. If they believe things such as "low reps bulk and high reps tone," then the issue isn't that tone is the wrong word, the issue is that they don't know how to get there, and perhaps don't understand what factors contribute to being toned.

It's not wrong to describe a physique as "lean," or "cut," or "bulky," or "pudgey," or "soft," or "shredded," or any of the other descriptions we might use, so I don't see the rationale behind blacklisting the word "toned" in this sense. People are just uneducated about how to achieve that description.

SQ 2x150kg BP 95kg DL 190kg OHP 60kg @ 70kg

You can work out without training, but you can't train without working out.

The noob effect, as explained by Greg Everett: "You take someone who's totally sedentary and you can get 'em stronger by making them pick their nose vigorously for an hour a day."

I'm not a pt but I think most ppl confuse tone with definition. They think that their muscles are flat and workin out will give them shape. In reality they just have too much fat or not enough muscle to be visible. Correct me if I'm wrong but it feels like my muscles are harder and firmer at rest when I have been lifting regularly than when I'm in not. That would be the only "tone" difference IMO

It's not wrong to describe a physique as "lean," or "cut," or "bulky," or "pudgey," or "soft," or "shredded," or any of the other descriptions we might use, so I don't see the rationale behind blacklisting the word "toned" in this sense. People are just uneducated about how to achieve that description.

I generally don't use those words, either. I go purely descriptive and comparative, "leaner", "fatter", "bigger" and "smaller."

athleticclubeast.com.au - Elite coaching is about getting the last 5% out of a person's performance, personal training is about getting the first 50%.
Current trainees' best lifts: ♀ 130/72.5/160 at 68kg, ♂ 205/120/220 at 105kg

If you expect your clients to adhere or even listen to what you're saying, you need to explain to them WHY "toning" is 90% about nutrition and why doing thousands of reps isn't doing anything for them.

Simply saying there is no such thing as "toning" and just making them lift heavy with no education is most likely going to get them to drop you as a trainer.

I have observed that many people have determination and passion to get fit but they lack knowledge on how to reach their goal.First, I explain my client what is meaning of fitness. It is very necessary for clients to know that they are being train by a right person. when i tell them that your muscles are already in shape and only thing you can do is to increase its size by weight training and simultaneously it will reduce your fat and then you can see a tone body.

Or let them hear what they want to hear so as to not put them off hiring you?

Simply curious.

Nope. Let them be ignorant. I imagine you are in the United States judging from the lingo of "tone". Of course the word "toned" is improper from a scientific stand point, but if they think you can tone a muscle, then that means they are poorly educated about mostly everything else related to fitness too. You should let them hear what they want to hear and then teach them when they become your client. In other parts of the world it probably isn't that much of a big deal, but in the United States there isn't enough time or resources to do that and make money.

Nope. Let them be ignorant. I imagine you are in the United States judging from the lingo of "tone". Of course the word "toned" is improper from a scientific stand point, but if they think you can tone a muscle, then that means they are poorly educated about mostly everything else related to fitness too. You should let them hear what they want to hear and then teach them when they become your client. In other parts of the world it probably isn't that much of a big deal, but in the United States there isn't enough time or resources to do that and make money.

Not in the United States, not even close. I think you'll find the word "tone" is used all round the world

Politely

Very politely I tell them to stop whining and start pushing! No Pain No Gain! Then I explain them that if it does not challenge you, it does not change you. You want to do it the lazy way? it is like going to college and taking 6 years to graduate, you know you could have done it in 3 years, it was your choice to stretch it to 6 years to reach your goal.
Peace out.